Louisianans Stand Strong Against the Legislature’s Attacks on Abortion

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Last week, more than 400 pink-clad Planned Parenthood supporters took to the Capitol in Baton Rouge to make it clear that Louisianans support the essential health care that Planned Parenthood provides and that we will not stand for attacks on our reproductive health care. Supporters flooded Memorial Hall and made their presence felt through a solidarity walk, a silent stand-in, and a rally on the steps of the Capitol that could be heard inside the building.

The same afternoon, after the pink-clad protestors left the Capitol, Gov. John Bel Edwards quietly signed SB 184, which would ban abortion at six weeks -- before most people even know they’re pregnant. If enforced, Louisiana would join the ranks of Georgia, Alabama, Missouri, Kentucky, Mississippi and Ohio as the states with the most extreme and dangerous abortion bans in the country.

This legislative session, anti-abortion lawmakers in Louisiana continued to chip away at access to health care by passing a number of bills that severely restrict access to abortion in an already limited health care landscape. Here are some of the other harmful measures that were passed this session:

HB 425 - an amendment to the Louisiana constitution that would ban abortion. The measure will be placed on the ballot in November 2020.

HB 133 - this bill greatly restricts access to medication abortion, an extremely safe medical option in the early stages of pregnancy.

HB 484 - this bill would place further reporting requirements on abortion clinics. This legislation has no purpose except to burden health care providers and further stigmatize abortion.

All of these bills are a direct attack on Roe v. Wade and have one goal: ban abortion entirely. Last week, hundreds of Louisianans stood strong and made it clear that they’re part of the majority of Americans who support access to abortion. We’re proud to fight back against the attacks on our care in Louisiana and around the country. The numbers are on our side and we’re not going anywhere.